


You Made Me Run

by Annasunshine77



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark, Dark Love, Hurt/Comfort, Larry trusts Sal, M/M, Obsessed Sal, Possessive Behavior, Profanity, Protective Sal, Salarry, Somewhat established relationship, Violence, au where Larry lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-10-03 21:34:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20459822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annasunshine77/pseuds/Annasunshine77
Summary: After all these years, the Red-Eyed Demon returns again, promising Sal death and destruction in his path. Sal refuses to let him touch Larry. He will protect Larry.At any cost.An alternate route from chapter four.





	1. Chapter 1

Larry jumped out of his skin as Sal burst into his room. “Larry! We have to go.” 

“Jesus, Sal, you gave me a heart attack.”He clutched his chest, trying to calm his breathing as he dropped his paintbrush in the clean water. He smiled despite his immediate panic, always happy to see the other boy. “What do you mean ‘go’?”

Now that he looked at Sal, he could see how frantic the boy was. His body ridged like a pole, hands and neck paler than normal, bright blue eyes glancing anxiously around the room. He threw the backpack he had slung over his shoulder onto Larry’s black bedspread. “Red Eyes is back.” He spoke, voice small as he turned to look at brunet. “It’s not safe here anymore, Lar.”

Larry felt the smile slip from his face. “Dude, what?” That couldn’t be true. He tried to recall the last couple of days at the apartment as Sal began rummaging through his drawers, pulling out clothes before throwing them on his backpack. “I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary,” Larry paused, eyes squinting in focus. “Well, maybe besides the usual ghosts coming around less, but I thought that was a good sign?”

Sal paused his movements and looked up, his blank mask and unimpressed eyes making Larry feel stupid. “That is not a good sign.” He closed the drawer and moved on to the next. “We have to leave here.”

“Wait! Like, actually move?” Larry felt like he was going to have another heart attack as the news set in. They couldn’t just leave. They had spent most of their lives in this apartment and town. “Where are we going? You and Todd’s place?”

Sal cringed but forced his voice to sound normal. “No, we’ll have to talk about that actually. It’s not safe there either. He looked away, suddenly appearing sheepish. “You know that old cabin way out to the left of the forest? The one we accidently found while gathering flowers for Lisa and Megan for their birthdays?”

Larry gently grasped Sal’s shoulders to make the other boy look at him. The shirts Sal had gripped in his hands slid to the floor as Larry’s warmth enclosed the smaller boy and his blue eyes found the brunets. “Dude, no. That thing has been abandoned for years. It’s probably more haunted than this place.”

Sal skittered away from the tall boy, anxiously grabbing Larry’s own backpack before throwing daily necessities inside. “I’ve been back there recently,” he briefly glanced away, remembering times Larry didn’t get to experience, before refocusing. “It’s actually not as bad you’d think. There’s furniture, a fireplace, even a well for water,” he rattled, voice slightly shaky as he continued to stuff the bag.

Larry was at a loss for words. What the hell was happening? He could see Sal was really freaked out, which was unusual for the brave boy.

“You just have to trust me,” Sal demanded loudly, his body starting to tremble as he finished throwing the brunet’s clothes in the large bag. “Help me pack, we need canned goods.”

Larry lowered his voice, trying to calm the panicked boy. “Sally, babe, you don’t live here anymore, how do you know this is really happening?” He took a breath, waiting to see if Sal would speak before proceeding. He softly raised his hand to Sal’s face, fingers brushing the hard plastic as he stroked the cheek. “I trust you with my life. You know I’d follow you to Hell, no questions asked.” He smiled slightly, nostalgic of all the times he loyally, gladly, followed the blue boy’s explorations. “But it’d be really metal if you’d let me know what’s running through your mind.”

Sal sighed before yielding, forever cursing his weakness for Larry’s oddly placed sweet talk. “The demon is back. It came to me in a dream,” he shivered, remembering. “It showed me things. Said it was going to ruin the world,” he grew darker, “it said it was going to hurt you.”

Larry watched him with sad eyes and Sal knew he doubted him. Doubted the truth of what could possibly come. “Sally, dude... I’m okay. I’ll be okay--”

Sal grew offended. “Larry, you know I’m not crazy. You experienced the same shit as me. You know every part of this is real. Even if you want to pretend it’s not. It will hurt you, like it has hurt others.” Sal’s eyes had hardened, becoming blue ice blocks. “I will not let your need for normalcy jeopardize your life, which you seem to continue to do.”

Larry ignored the jab. “We can’t just up and leave, Sal. What about our parents? The friends we’ve made along the way?” Sal snorted as Larry continued. “What you say is true, fine I’ll believe it. I know this shit has a tendency to be true. But then their lives are in danger too.”

Sal hummed as he dropped his filled bags and expertly took Larry’s hands in his. Holding them the way he knew Larry liked. “They will be okay if we go away. Red Eyes will be less prominent, exert less control, when we’re gone. We are leaving for our safety and theirs.”

Larry felt conflicted, mind trying to process all that was thrown at him. All that he would have to abandon for the time being. “We’ve been through this before, you know,” he ran his thumb across the soft hands in his. “We don’t have to run, we could stay here and kick some demon ass.”

Sal shook his head sadly. He wanted to believe Larry but he couldn’t find the belief in himself. “It’s stronger than before.” He had to protect Larry, needed to protect Larry. He looked around the room. “This place feels wrong, has felt wrong since I’ve set foot in it today. Can’t you feel it too?”

Larry paused and closed his eyes. There had been an inkling building in the back of his mind recently that he had tried to starve out, but with Sal here, the suspension had turned real. Maybe it was the way he found the hallway lights dimmed lower, or the way the elevator began buzzing so loud it became deafening, or how the empty rooms were turning up more and more frequently locked. But he knew something was planning, lurking in the cold walls of the apartment building. He hadn’t wanted to read into those weird instances, content with blaming them on his paranoia. But he needed to face it like Sal. Be brave like Sal.   
Ten minutes ago Larry had been content working on a bluebird painting and now he was halfway persuaded to run away with Sal. Granted, running from a demon that could devour their lives, but it was all happening so fast.

“You can act like this isn’t real danger, but I refuse to let that thing touch you.” Sal looked at the tall boy when he didn’t say anything, a fierce expression in his eye, one that made Larry feel some type of way. “You’re too giving, Lar. I will protect you from the monsters when you can’t, that’s what I promised myself.” Ever since he witnessed Larry at his beautiful low, he knew. He had never seen anyone so dejected, and he had never wanted to protect a human being so viciously. Glistening tears threatening to spill over, mouth quivering, painfully open from the truth about his father. He knew he would do anything for the other, be anything for the other.

Larry sighed, feeling scared of the unknown. 

“How long, Sal?”

“However long it takes.”


	2. Chapter 2

They made their way along the gravel and dirt road. The bright sky was softening around them, the slipping sun and puffy clouds melting into pink pigment. Larry watched Sal walk slightly ahead of him, blue hair fluttering along the wind and three backpacks draped along his shoulders. He looked small and radiating. Larry still felt a heavy sickness draped across his body.

They grabbed as much of their necessities as they could before Sal managed to drag Larry out. His mother was tending to the fourth floor hallway and Larry felt acid burn through his bones at the thought of seeing her tired, kind face. He couldn’t face her, not in a way where it wouldn’t end painfully. He couldn’t explain something he didn’t even understand.

But no words weighed just as heavy. The idea of leaving her, abandoning her, forsaking her like so many had already done. Without reason. She would be devastated. The guilt was scorching, and he hated himself when he let Sal loop his arm along his own and pull him towards the back door. He tried not to look at the photos on the wall as he passed them. He vaguely recalled the feeling of Sal’s fingers stroking his arm in comfort.

He had stopped when they reached the forest edge, and turned. His eyes scanned across the aged apartments and their glaring windows. He thought he saw the outline of a person, possibly his mother. His heart stopped and he was suddenly worried he would blow his composure if he continued to look back.

“Sal, this doesn’t feel right.” The soft fingers paused on his arm, before continuing in their pattern.

“When has any of this felt right?” And Sal looked so complete, like he was made to lead this world, like he knew what Larry needed before he, himself, knew.

Larry couldn’t help the harsh smile that flickered across his face. He laughed away the pain and focused on the feeling of Sal’s fingertips. “Heh, got me there.”

Now they were working their way in, trekking further and further until the faint gravel road blended into tall, emerald grass. The woods were alive around them, an easy way for Larry to distract himself.

“I can’t believe you remembered where this place was.” They had been walking for a while. Larry’s arms were starting to ache and he could only imagine how Sal’s felt. He reached over and threw one of Sal’s bags over his own. Sal bumped against him in appreciation.

“I remember everything.”  


“Remember your best friend Charlie?”

“Dammit, Larry. I try not to.”

They fell into a silence. It was a familiar silence, but the circumstances were so different. Different from anything they had previously tackled. Anxiety continued to build in the brunet’s chest. Dancing around the subject leads to nowhere. Larry wanted to ask, but he also feared the answer.

“Todd and Neil?” Larry questioned softly.

Sal became rigid but kept walking, still a few feet ahead of Larry. “They’re okay,” he muttered sullenly, quietly, like he wanted that to be the end of the talk.

“Wanna explain?” Larry always did push his boundaries.

“I think they’re okay.”

Larry stopped so quick he almost tripped over his own feet. “What do you mean you ‘think’, Sal? They’re either good or we’ve got to go save their asses.”

Sal rounded on him and Larry saw his blue eyes ablaze with a sudden fire. “They will be okay, Larry. They will be okay and we will be okay.” His bags slid to the ground as he approached the brunet. “I just haven’t had a chance to talk to them fully.” He grasped Larry’s shaking hands in his own, never looking away from the brown, wide eyes.

“Sally, you’re scaring me, and that’s kind of hard to do considering what we’ve been through,” Larry said, nerves spreading through his body, like a wildfire.

“Larry, I love you so much, so, so, so much,” Sal gripped his hands like he was holding on for dear life. “I will do whatever necessary to keep you safe.”

“I…I love you too, Sally.” He squeezed the other’s hands in reassurance. “I just have no idea what we’re doing. I’m scared this will all turn out wrong.”

“I have everything figured out. Don’t worry. I swear we won’t stay for long and that the others will be fine. They will all be safe and sound.” His eyes burned into Larry, and Larry found himself having a hard time not believing the captivating words that promised peace. Sal tore his eyes away and shouldered his fallen bags, tugging the tall brunet along, almost shyly. The fire in his eyes was gone. “We’re almost there. We should arrive before the darkness.”

They rediscovered the old, abandoned cabin shortly after. Only…

“This doesn’t look abandoned anymore… Are you sure this is a good plan, Sal?”

Sal rolled his eyes. “First of all, how dare you doubt my masterful planning? Secondly, I’m the only one that’s been working on cleaning it up. You don’t have to worry because it sure as hell was just as bad as you remember before I found it again.” The wood still looked worn, but the cabin did appear viable with its green vines draped along the side walls. It was small and the grass was overgrown, but on the other hand the windows looked clear and the door was a fresh blue color.

How long had Sal been planning this?

He turned to ask, but Sal was glowing with pride and his eyes upturned with a hidden smile. He kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to know the answer right now anyway.

He was rewarded when Sal slipped his fingers in Larry’s own. Sal took the lead and led him towards the door. He walked in with Sal, grateful to be able to lock the door from the encroaching night and stalking wildlife. He let the blue haired boy slide the heavy bags off of him.

The light was a dim haze and the small walkway lead to the kitchen. It was more equipped than Larry had expected, with a black table in the middle. It gave the brunet a distinct nostalgia for his grandma’s home.

This was to be their home for now.

This was not Larry’s home.

It was hitting Larry like a pile of bricks. It made his head dizzy with emotion.

Larry slid down the wooden wall closest to him. “She’s going to think I abandoned her,” he cast his eyes downwards, “like dad did.”

Sal hated hearing Larry say that. He followed the brunet, sliding down beside him. He felt bad. The beginning of guilt licked his skin like a fire. But he needed to keep Larry safe, so it was almost impossible to return until he was sure the evil was gone. He removed his prosthetic, setting it on the floor beside them. “She will be okay. They will be okay.” He slipped his arm around Larry’s distressed shoulders. “We will go back in the future, when it’s safer. I promise.” His other hand played with strands of Larry’s chocolate brown hair. “You have to trust me.”

Larry smiled sadly but his eyes held their constant hope, and a kind of enduring love Sal knew was only for him. “Okay, you’re the boss.”

Larry’s home was a person. A person leaning against him, with his face bared and his fingers skimming against his tan skin. A small person who squeezed his hand, brushed his streaming tears, and whispered to him that everything would be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Anna's start to every fanfic: write a scene you feel overwhelming passion for, then try to fill in the details above and below.
> 
> Welcome back my friends! My boys are back!  
This is just a little something I'm working on, playing around with alternate complexes and character depth. An idea I've been toying around with in my head. I'm planning on it to be rather dark, not sure on severity so I'll update tags as I go.


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